Bogota Board of Education swears in 1 incumbent and 2 newcomers to their seats

New board members Pauline McDonnell, left, and Gloria Clark with incumbent Charles Severino being sworn in by Norma Tursi.

BOGOTA - One incumbent and two newcomers were sworn in to their seats on the Bogota Board of Education at its reorganization meeting on Jan. 7 at Bogota High School.

Gloria Clark and Pauline McDonnell, who each won their first three-year term on the board, and Charles Severino, the only incumbent to recapture a seat, were sworn in by Board Secretary Norma Tursi.

Clark, a 28-year resident of Bogota, said that she looks forward to being a part of the BOE and hopes that the replacement of the Board of Education building and the athletic field house proceeds smoothly now that a decision has been made.

A teacher in Bogota for the past 20 years, Clark hopes that the board will keep its attention on the educational issues at hand and will always looking for any way to boost morale of the district staff.

"I hope we can have productive board meetings that focus on educational issues," Clark said. "I also want to work with the superintendent in finding new ways to show support for the teachers and the staff members."

Severino, a long-time member of the board, ran for another term because he does not believe that the schools are being well-run or moving forward educationally. He cited recent tests scores, which he does not believe are showing an improvement, and the morale in grammar schools, which he describes as "terrible," as why he decided to run again.

He also said that he has tried to bring these issues to light in the past and will continue to do so during his next term on the BOE.

"My mission is to open the eyes of this board," Severino said. "They may get tired of hearing me, but I'll bring it to their attention."

Laura Giumarra, last year's Board of Education president, was reappointed to that role by a 5-2 vote. The Board of Education vice president will be Michael Connors, who was also voted in by the same margin.

The Board of Education currently has one open seat due to the election of former trustee John Mitchell to the Bogota Borough Council in last November's general election. The Board will discuss a replacement for his seat at the next meeting on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m.

The BOE has also previously discussed holding just one meeting per month, as opposed to two, due to scheduling conflicts for some of the board members. That issue will also be taken up at the Jan. 21 meeting.